The Lego Batman Movie (aka the best-rated DC movie since The Dark Knight) is out this weekend, and a cavalcade of beautiful and wonderful toys came with it. While the Lego sets are the main draw (and they’re beautiful, indeed) they are expensive. However, if you just want some fun Lego Batman trinkets to amuse yourself, feast your eyes on the Minifigure Blind Bags. They’re cheap and amazing, and I want to examine the in-depth comic book history behind each and every one.
Source: youtube.com
1. The Calculator
Bronze Age DC Batman Villains are the best kind of comic book characters. They’re so weird and wonderful and beautiful.
And Noah Kuttler, alias The Calculator, is the best of the best. He was created to capitalize on the popularity of the newly invented pocket calculator in 1976. So yeah, your TI-84 has a Batman villain named for it. The Calculator started off (as I've mentioned in previous articles) with the dumbest plan I've ever seen a supervillain have. Ever.
His gear analyzed the fighting style of anyone he fought to help him beat them. So he went around and purposely got himself beaten up by every major superhero so he could beat them "next time". IF YOUR PLAN INVOLVES LOSING A WHOLE BUNCH BEFORE YOU CAN WIN EVEN ONCE, IT IS A BAD PLAN! Calculator would later transition into a planner role, serving as the "Oracle" for supervillains, but thankfully that’s not the version they made a Lego of.
They made a Lego of the "loses on purpose" version.
Source: brickset.com
2. Catman
Well, I'll chalk this one up to "I never thought this was ever gonna happen in a million years."
In fact, when I first saw it pop up on Twitter, I thought it was a custom. But it isn’t; it’s real. I own one. He’s sitting on my desk staring back at me while I type this.
Thomas Bake was introduced in 1963 as a big game hunter who grew bored with that life and turned to crime as a supervillain. He picked the Cat theme, and seriously pissed off Catwoman when she started being implicated for his crimes. Catman got beaten down pretty bad a couple of times and retired, growing fat and sad in the subsequent few years. He popped up again, only for Green Arrow to humiliate him and leave him beaten down again. This left Cats at rock bottom, and he went back to Africa and got in hella shape. This was about the point where he started appearing in the cult hit hidden gem series Secret Six, a role that landed him a ton of love.
Lego Catman sports his Secret Six design, even using the short-eared Batman mask piece (it’s a smart move to change his silhouette from the Dark Knight).
Source: digitalspyuk.com
3. Lobster Batman
Look, this is very obviously the best Batman Minifigure of all time. Like, if you only own one Batman, please own sexy robe, lobster eating Batman post haste.
Although Batman's commonly agreed upon favorite food is steak (cooked rare; Batman's not some kind of heathen), he has been known to ingest multiple foodstuffs. He joined the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in eating a pizza in their crossover, he's one of only two people on earth who can stomach Green Arrow's super hot chili, and he's been known to eat a hamburger with a knife and fork like a weirdo.
If Catman's nose in Secret Six is to be believed, Batman will also occasionally stop for a burrito, because Mexican food is pretty great.
Also, although it's not a food, Batman has been hard-line established to love himself some black coffee. I hope you enjoyed this brief history of things Batman has eaten. I’m a loser who knows these things, and now you’re a loser who also knows these things.
Source: youtube.com
4. The Eraser
God, there are some obscure Batman villains in this set. It's insane.
But this dude is Lenny Fiasco, who went to college with Bruce Wayne. In college, Lenny was made fun of constantly due to the fact that he always made mistakes in class and had to erase them. Let me fact check this origin real quick: I've been in college for multiple years now, and NO ONE REALLY GIVES A DAMN about your schoolwork. Like, I know three people who actually study, and one of them is me. But people mocked Lenny a lot.
He was in love with a classmate, Celia Smith, but when she went with Bruce Wayne instead, Lenny turned to crime, crafting an Eraser outfit that was able to wipe all traces of himself from any crime scene. But then Batman beat the heck out of him.
I'll be honest, half of these entries will end like that.
Source: digitalspyuk.com
5. Vacation Batman
Look, sometimes even the Dark Knight needs some time off. And he's been all over the place, usually in pursuit of a supervillain. From the Himalayas to Japan to the deserts of the middle east, the Bat is no stranger to pretty much any square acre of the earth. In fact, he's been to every continent!
Let's start with Africa, where Bats visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo to train the local representative of Batman Incorporated, Batwing. The Dark Knight also visited Asia numerous times, and has a long and storied career in Hiro Kuwata's amazing Bat-Manga series in Japan. Europe? Look no further than the Batman: Europa miniseries. Australia? Antarctica? The North Pole? All covered handily by our world traveler.
And as for the Lego Minifig itself, come on, that duck floaty is amazing and perfect in every way. Challenge me on this, I dare you!
You can't.
Source: jaysbrickblog.com
6. King Tut
Well, let's dig into a character who didn't originally appear in comics at all, but popped up in another medium altogether.
The 1966 Batman TV Show is one of the most charming figures in the Batman canon, and it spawned a couple of little-known villains. King Tut is a great one of those.
William Omaha McElroy was a university professor who was caught in the crossfire of a student protest and got hit in the head with a rock. This caused him to believe that he was the reincarnation of King Tut, and that Gotham was the conquerable city of Thebes, because that is what rocks do.
The comic book version of the character was Victor Goodman, an Egyptologist and criminal who kills people and leaves Egypt-themed riddles. He was defeated by a team-up of Batman and The Riddler, who was mad about someone biting his style. Harsh.
Source: jaysbrickblog.com
7. Red Hood
Ah, the long and storied history of the Red Hood. A Batman villain who has a ton of credibility and respect, even though he's had hardly any appearances.
The first Red Hood was introduced as a possible origin for the Joker. He was a standard criminal who looked like if Mysterio had formal wear until he encountered The Batman. Batman beat him up, and he wound up accidentally getting knocked into a vat of acid. That acid permanently disfigured his skin and face and drove him insane, turning him into"¦The Joker.
The second Red Hood was the formerly dead Robin, Jason Todd, who came back from the dead and decided to be a massive jerk by adopting the identity to keep his identity secret. He kept that ID, and has used it to this day in his work with The Outlaws (Bizarro and Artemis).
The third Red Hood is the New 52 version. He was first introduced in the Batman story Zero Year, as the leader of the Red Hood Gang, which was in operation during the first year of Batman's existence.
Source: youtube.com
8. Fairy Batman
Well, now let's talk about the history of Batman wearing pink. I love my job so much it should be illegal.
So, the history of pink Batman dates back to a story called The Rainbow Batman in Detective Comics #241. In the story, Robin (Dick Grayson) comes to harm as he saves a life, seriously hurting his arm in the process. When he decides to start tracking down the robbers he let escape, Batman starts wearing various differently colored outfits – green, blue, and “red” – which is clearly pink, no matter how many times anyone calls it lightish red.
Robin finds the crooks, and Batman goes back to his regular outfit, revealing that he only did it so that everyone would focus on him and no one would notice that Robin had an injured arm, just like Dick Grayson. This is dumb and insane in so many ways that I don't have time to go into it.
The story has been homaged in an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as well as in a DC Direct action figure set and a Pop Vinyl.
Source: jaysbrickblog.com
9. Zodiac Master
I'll be honest, I'm a HUGE comic book nerd who knows a lot about comics. And I had never heard of Zodiac Master. Like, I’m infinitely confused by his existence.
Discovering a Batman villain I'd never heard of is like discovering a mark on the back of my hand I didn't know was there. It's weird.
Anyway, Zodiac Master first appeared in Detective Comics #323. He made his name by predicting freak accidents in order to prove his powers to the criminals of Gotham. It turned out that he had none, and that he was the one behind the accidents that he "predicted."
Batman and Robin went after him, and Zodiac Master fought back, using weapons based on the Zodiac signs. How you weaponize a scale is beyond me, but I guess he found a way. The dynamic duo beat him down pretty hard, and threw him in jail.
Source: jaysbrickblog.com
10. Orca
Oof. This is a tough one.
Orca the Whale Woman is easily one of the worst Batman villains of all time.
Grace Balin was a marine biologist who was left paralyzed from the waist down by an accident. She discovered in her work that she could potentially use Orca tissue in order to fix her spine. She injected herself with a formula of her own design, which mutated her into a giant vicious whale woman. She bounced around the DC Universe until she was murdered by the Great White Shark, alongside KGBeast, Magpie, and The Ventriloquist.
She has since appeared in the post-DC Rebirth continuity as one of the Run-Offs, a group of ex-supervillains who fled to Bludhaven to escape Batman and Robin. When Nightwing came to the Blud, he and Grace ran afoul of each other, but since he cleared her name of criminal charges, they'll hopefully start getting along better.
And there's the first half of my breakdown of the secret comic book histories of every Blind Bagged Lego Minifigure. Coming soon: Part 2!
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